Wednesday, August 27, 2008

HRC At The DNC - Thoughts About The Sisterhood In Traveling Pantsuits


Ain't hardly a soul whose all good or all bad, so bear with me while I point out two sides of the same coin.


If Hillary were a bird last night, she would have been a glorious male peacock with wings and tale feathers aflame with beautiful, colorful wonder. Indeed, she did a helluva job in showing off her finer points and giving us all the reasons we should have voted for her.


Her speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver was so great that if I didn't know a thing about her not-so-subtle racist Southern style campaign strategy, I would be truly regretful that Obama didn't select her as his VP running mate. I might even wish she had been selected since she, unlike him, voted against the now legal 'snoop on Americans anytime they feel like it' law known as FISA.

But like I said, her unnecessary political ploys of fanning the flames of white folks racial fears and resentments pissed me off, and I think, set back the clock of progress.

Her husband and former President Bill Clinton was great too. He reminded me of the old Bill I adored, the one with soul. I think it's still there, but his wife's fight to take his old White House chair has made him a pain and brought out the worst him him. Last night, the camera panned on him at the perfect moment. It was simply beautiful watching him watching her.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you..." he repeatedly whispered to himself as he telepathically sent his love to her.

Bill was
mesmerized by her speech, poise and accomplishment, and I was too. His feelings were legitimate, at least in my eyes, and from an emotional standpoint, this packed a punch with the broadcast audience who saw it. Her generally magnificent speech combined with his love and support gave her added credibility and social status as a politician, wife and a woman.

Put it this way: she'd have never gotten this far if she had divorced Bill and was single.


Indeed, Hillary is the icon for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits. She represents the tough and persistent older women who broke some major barriers of sexism.

One of her best accomplishments was to push the need for national health care reform into the national consciousness. She's been tirelessly working on this and fighting the dumb ass right wingers and corporate pigs who didn't and still don't want it. This has been her cause since at least 1993, as shown in the photo below when in Hawaii and listening to problems about the lack of health care there.


We all know that Hillary wouldn't have had a prayer of getting this close to the Presidency - despite her talents - were it not for name recognition. That doesn't matter anymore. What she did will have the collective impact on our national psyche and open doors for girls and young women, and will go down in the history.

Michelle Obama, on the other hand, blew it.

As I watched the camera pan on her during Hillary's speech, I thought she should have stayed home or made herself busy elsewhere. It's hard hiding one's feelings unless you're a sociopath or good actor.

Michelle's mouth was tightly smiling but her eyes were not. She looked as though she hates Hillary. Her body language was tight. Her hair was pulled tightly back in an unflattering way and I wondered why the hell she didn't have a stylist do it up earlier. I could only see the upper half of clothes as she sat listening, and her blouse was plain and unflattering. This was quite a contrast because she's usually elegant.



If ever there was a time for Michelle to have Barack or her mother by her side to chill her out, last night was the night. If her mama sat next to her, I sure didn't notice it, because she looked so alone, angry, and isolated in her chair as she listened to Hillary's speech.

If she looked this way to me, I imagine she came across as the stereotypical, angry black bitch, too plain to be a First Lady and insincere in her smile to the race-insecure folks that make up White America. I'd like to say fuck 'em, but this does not bode well for Barack winning over Hillary's voters or the undecided ones.

In addition, Hillary played a subtle mindfuck game with her supporters and America's voters. Although she started off with the wonderfully simple words, "No way, no how, no McCain," she screwed it up by undoing her own advice.

Hillary said, “Suppose for example you’re a voter and you have candidate X and you have candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything but you don’t think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues but you believe that on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver.”

The speech moved so quicky and the emotions were distracting. It didn't really hit me until this morning when I read the transcript. This was a subtle back stab to the Democratic Party but particularly to Obama. It was also a missed opportunity to smack the Republicans hard.

She should have said, "You had me and Barack as candidates X, and McCain as Candidate Y..."

But nooo, she is clearly X and Barack is Y. In her coded speech that she is sooo good at, he is the person you don't dare think can deliver on anything.

Michelle ain't stupid. She picked up on this immediately. No wonder she looked pissed.

Hillary quickly resumed the push for her voters to choose the Democratic Party and Obama, with more emphasis on the former, at least to my possibly biased ears.

I am left thinking that Hillary ain't out of this game yet. Although her supporters grumbled since the DNC kickoff that Barack 'didn't 'show her the respect of vetting her to be his VP running mate', I speculate she didn't want it. Remember that in May, she suspended her campaign - not ended it.

Technically she can still get Super Delegates to change their minds and nominate her to become the Presidential Nominee. Slim chance of that.

There's also the assassination factor. She brought up Robert Kennedy's 1968 murder in three different interviews this year up until May, each time linking his name with Barack's as though she expected or hoped for a June assassination.

You may recall how MSNBC's Keith Olbermann took a lot of heat for giving a fiercely indignant and angry commentary.

Coincidence or not, this opened the door for "jokes" about this, from Fox News commentator, Liz Trotta, who slipped up and said, "someone is saying that we should knock off Obama, um, Osama.... well, both if we could," and then laughed. She's still working there.

This is in contrast to McCain's friend Mike Huckabee, who made a bad joke at a NRA meeting and lost his shot as a potential VP. They're still tight, however.

I sat before my TV wondering, not for the first time, what would happen if tragedy or death befell Barack Obama before Election Day.


I can picture Hillary sliding into his spot. Since the country would be total chaos from riots, she would probably keep Joe Biden, the sharp-witted chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and self-pronounced Zionist on the ticket as her VP.

Joe has a lot of pull and power in the upper echelons of government and world affairs. He also sits on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security. He knows all about missiles and warheads packed with biological contaminants, so if the bombs don't kill the enemy, contagious disease will.

Thus, he has the foreign policy expertise and viewpoint that makes the men who control the global thrones comfortable, and the reputation of being more than capable in military and anti-terror matters.


Biden undoubtedly knows his shit and looks good in the photo ops, but is he more likely, in the future, to use his knowledge for diplomacy vs. getting us embroiled in more wars by supporting the war profiteers? Will he be Obama's Cheney?

Here we are, 11 weeks away from Election Day, and about half of the Democrat and Independent voters are still sitting on the damned fence or have defected to the GOP because they're leery of voting a black man in office. If Obama's competition was even close to his brilliance, I'd understand, but McCain simply can't compare and is long overdue for retirement.

Hillary knows that Clinton-Biden ticket would knock McCain out of the ballpark and into obscurity where he belongs. Call me cynical and I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is why she's quietly and shrewdly left the door open to this possibility.

The game ain't over until it's over, and it won't be over as long as Barack is alive and well through Election Day. No one sees this more clearly than Hillary - and Michelle who surely must pray for husband's safety every day.


I ain't no mind-reader, and Hillary may not really wish Barack any harm, but she's worked her options so she can pick up where he left off if the opportunity presents itself - either before November 4th or in 2012.




Now that's a politician.

If I were Barack, I'd offer her an appointment to the Supreme Court to keep her in the game but outta my hair. Not only would Hillary Clinton make a meaningful difference as a judge and fighter for women, children, health care and union rights, but she would balance out the ultraconservatives sitting there now.

As the woman who almost won the Presidency and went on to become a Supreme Court judge, she may be remembered with more fondness in future history books than Barack, who in reality may not be able to rule very differently from McCain. A new Great Depression so severe that our currency may even collapse is coming, and this will bring more war. There's damn little Barack can do to stop that train, so Hillary would fare better not boarding.

In conclusion, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits aren't much different or any less opportunistic than the Brotherhood of Suits and Ties. They're all politicians.

It's just the game, and let's hope this one doesn't turn bloody.

~~~~~~~~~~~~


5 comments:

  1. I share some of your concerns, but I think that the whole suspension thing is over once the roll call vote takes place.

    My wife and I both said she spent way too much time talking about herself in the speech, but my father, a huge Obama fan, was satisfied. So, I don't know what's up.

    Anyway, I agree with you on Michelle, but it's understandable that she was uptight. She knew that at any moment Hillary could whip out the knives and stab her husband between the shoulder blades, and I think she was just waiting for that to happen. It's hard to smile when you're worried somebody is going to betray you and hurt someone you love.

    ReplyDelete
  2. girl, who YOU telling. clinton is a snake in the grass. let's just pray like crazy for Obama's good health and long life. Amen

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pray for Obama's safety.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks y'all, and I agree. Let's hope it's God's plan and he answers our prayers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Put it this way: she'd have never gotten this far if she had divorced Bill and was single.

    Excellent point, perfectly stated. Thank you for it.

    ReplyDelete

Hi, this is Kit.

I haven't posted since summer 2010, and comment moderation has been on for a very long time.

My old blogger friends (you know who you are) are welcome to email me.

I can be reached at:
kitsmailbag@gmail.com.